Dec 29, 2013

UFC women’s bantamweight champion and new Expendable Rousey defended her title against rival Tate, but her win did not come in the first round, and it was no walk in the park.

After a spirited back-and-forth fight, Rousey secured her patented
armbar early in the third round to notch her second win over Tate, whom
she took the Strikeforce belt from in March 2012.

While the champion’s performance was dominant, her behavior after the
fight wasn’t applauded. Rousey refused to shake Tate’s hand in the cage
and was loudly booed by the crowd.

A winded Rousey congratulated Tate for her performance, but added, “Once you insult my family, I can’t shake your hand.”

Although I'm not a big fan of a younger group of Expendables, I have to admit that Rousey is one hell of a fighter and her current UFC champ status is all positive publicity for "The Expendables 3". It is well known that Sly is a marketing genius and has proved it once again with EX3 and its new cast.

Dec 28, 2013

Recently added to the official cast list is Lisbeth Olofsson, playing Gunnar's daughter. According to IMDB, this is her first film as an actress. She has been working as a production secretary in various TV shows before this. Not earth-shattering news, but interesting.

With EX3 in post-production now, many fans are wondering if there will be an EX2 Director's cut, or "Extended cut" released around August, to capitalize on the promotion. As Simon West said in his EX2 commentary, many scenes were cut short, due to the movie being too long. I'm not going to go into that, but it is obvious why certain powers wanted EX2 a certain length. Since Simon West is long gone from the EX franchise now, I'm not sure this will happen.

Jet Li's fight scene, the best in the whole movie, was cut in half. This really bugged me, as Jet only shot a few days. One would think they would want every frame of him onscreen. We also know from behind-the-scenes footage, there was a little more to the Sly-Van Damme fight that wasn't used. Who knows about the Adkins-Statham fight. Probably some of that was trimmed.

Sure, we have the deleted scenes that were included as part of the EX2 Blu-ray, but it would be nice to have everything that was shot in a Director's cut, so we can all see it put together. Several minutes of the airport scene were completely cut out, with Toll Road, Hale Caesar and Maggie all getting their fight scenes removed.

Maybe some of the scenes needed trimming, maybe not, but as fans, we deserve to see every frame shot. Hopefully Lionsgate will realize this and give us what we want. The EX1 Director's cut was superior to the theatrical cut, in a lot of people's opinions. Bring on the EX2 Director's cut!

They say that 3 is a magic number so, naturally, my top pick for 2014
is the ridiculously violent new offering from everybody’s favourite
gang of action oldies, The Expendables 3. I know I could have chosen something more noble such as Camp X-Ray but, the unintentional comedy gold kicked out by The Expendables franchise is like crack. With guns. You just can’t say no.

When the torment of a house with no internet forced me to blow the dust of an, as yet unwatched, copy of the The Expendables
I was pretty pessimistic about the whole affair. Watching Hollywood’s
aging action elite drag themselves out of their La-Z-Boys to stretch
their creaky joints back into ass kicking form just didn’t appeal. Then I
saw Sylvester Stallone‘s unbelievably rubbery face juddering like a Shar Pei on a trampoline behind a machine gun and I had a sudden change of heart.

The Expendables franchise is an enormous reservoir of,
mostly unintentional, testosterone driven comedy. The relentless
slideshow of epic violence that makes the franchise undeniably gripping
also frequently explodes into kitsch hilarity and that is how The Expendables won my cynical, black heart.

The plot synopsis of The Expendables 3 promises that the latest offering will be the best yet as the excerpt below should demonstrate;

Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and
brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals
who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a
clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise

So, essentially The Expendables 3 is about some old guys who
don’t like to mix with all that new fangled technology crap getting
some young pups in to help them set up their internet router or
something. Beautiful. Personally, I hope the old-school style wins
because I want more bomb hurling, double machine gun toting, multiple
throat slitting action rammed right down my neck.

My only concern about the new film is the tragic lack of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
I was really looking forwards to him getting his epic split on whilst
perilously perched on some cruise missiles. Oh well, a girl can dream!

Below are my favourite The Expendables moments to rev your engines.

Stallone’s epic helicopter entrance

Stallone jiggled and wobbled his way to helicopter based glory as he legged it down the pier in The Expendables 1.
While i was genuinely worried he might have a cardiac arrest, my brief
moment of concern was all but erased by the CGI nightmare that was his
leap into the helicopter. 5 out of 5 so-bad-it’s-good points.

And, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I found this
treasure of the actual filming. Look at that lacklustre flop onto a
crash mat! You go girl!

Jean-Claude Van Damme’s knife kick

Van Damme is like Michael Flatley
or something, his magical legs just keep on giving. Not only does he
boot a blade straight into this cocky dick’s chest, he also does it with
sunglasses for added cool. My hero!

Terry Crews shows us he’s da bomb!

With the immense power of his muscled muscles, Terry Crews lets out his
inner old spice smoothness and lobs a bomb at a helicopter without even
breaking a sweat.

If all that action has warmed your cockles, The Expendables 3 is hitting cinemas on August the 15th 2014. Who wants to join me? If you supply the popcorn I’ll bring the hip flask.

Following the lawsuit against Callaham (this is the guy who gets the "Story By" credit all the time), the producers are saying that Callaham withheld key evidence before the WGA tribunal that awarded him to receive first position in a "Screenplay By" credit -- ahead of Stallone.

Among Callaham's emails allegedly turned up is one from August 17,
2009 during the film's development where the writer claims the script
for The Expendables "is FUCKING AWFUL… I am ASTOUNDED at how bad this is. I want you to know that it's nothing like what I wrote."

The following day, Callaham is said to have written two more
colleagues, saying in email, "Put it this way: the idea and very loose
structure [of The Expendables] is mine. Everything else…I plead
the fifth. Or, to put it another way, if I get sole credit like I am
asking for…it would be A MIRACLE."

Callaham not only got credit, but also received a "writing credit bonus"
of $102,250. But perhaps more significantly, the arbitration ruling
potentially entitles him to have "separated rights," pertaining to
spin-offs. The 2009 arbitration was followed by one in May, 2013, where
Callaham and his company claimed $175,000 as a "sequel payment" for Expendables 2. Callaham wants the money plus significant interest. Plus, he's seeking declaratory relief on Expendables 3 and future sequels.

The lawsuit filed by Nu Image traces the controversy back to 2002
when Callaham made a "Blind Commitment Agreement" with Warner Bros. over
a script entitled Barrow. For that, Callaham was paid $250,000.

Stallone later got to work on Expendables, and in the course of his work, he "reviewed Callaham's script entitled Barrow and based part of the story for The Expendables on Barrow," according to Nu Image.

The production company says Stallone believed Callaham should get a
shared "Story By" credit, but because Stallone was also a production
executive (as well as director) on Expendables, WGA rules provided for automatic arbitration when Callaham demanded more.

The plaintiffs now say that Callaham has made false representations
during the arbitration, damaging them. Represented by attorney Charles Coate,
the plaintiffs are suing for fraud, unjust enrichment and equitable
indemnity and seeking the return of money. Plus, the plaintiffs are
seeking declaratory relief including that Stallone be given sole
screenplay credit for The Expendables and that Callaham not be entitled to money for sequels. The lawsuit says that the WGA should discipline Callaham by its own rules.

Dec 24, 2013

The EX3 teaser trailer hit the web several days ago and the great news is that the majority are loving what they got...and what they got was a TEASE...a good old fashion tease! Most movie sites have reported positive feedback. Just imagine what we will get with the next trailer in several months. My mouth is watering already.

The first film in 2010 grossed $274,470,394 WORLDWIDE. The second film in 2012 topped that figure with $311,979,256 WORLDWIDE -- Actual figures here for EX2. Rest assured that 2014's EX3 is going to be the biggest film yet in this action packed series.

P.S. BOXOFFICE MOJO, the biggest box-office site on the net, still lists EX2 at an old figure of $305,428192 worldwide. Mojo needs to stop being lazy and update the EX2 page with the actual $311,979,256 number.

The WGA West, which is the final arbiter over screenplay credits, and Callaham had no immediate response.

Millennium Films and Nu Image allege that the 2009 WGA arbitration
gave Callaham a credit that was unwarranted. The plaintiffs are seeking
the $102,250 bonus that was paid to Callaham and that the arbitration be
reversed.

They are also seeking a jury trial, unspecified damages, legal fees
and an order that they will not have to make sequel payments. And the
plaintiffs have for the WGA to discipline Callaham.

The suit alleges Callaham had overstated his role in “The
Expendables” script and withheld information from the WGA arbitration.
According to the suit, Sylvester Stallone based some of the characters in the project’s script on Callaham’s “Barrow” script, which Stallone reviewed in 2002.

Because Stallone was also the director of the movie and a production
executive, the WGA was required to hold the arbitration to determine
screenplay credits.

The suit alleges that Callaham contended during the arbitration that
he alone wrote the screenplay for ‘The Expendables” and asserts “these
representations and Callaham’s position were patently false and
confirmed by Callaham’s own written words and disclosures that came to
light years thereafter.”

The WGA’s arbitration determined that Callaham receive the “story by”
credit and the top spot in the shared “screenplay by” credit with
Stallone. The suit said that Callaham and his Jittery Dog production
company company began an arbitration this year for a $175,000 sequel
payment for 2012’s “Expendables 2.”

Callaham has a “story by” screenplay credit on the upcoming
“Godzilla” from Warner Bros. and Legendary. Stallone has over a dozen
screenplay credits and received an Oscar nomination for the “Rocky”
script.

Dec 22, 2013

Here's the order in which "The Expendables 3" Cast is billed, and the final character names:Sylvester Stallone as Barney RossJason Statham as Lee ChristmasAntonio Banderas as GalgoJet Li as Yin YangWesley Snipes as DocDolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen

Blown up pics of the cast.
A lot of people were curious if this was shot all at once. The answer is no. A lot of the cast had left by the time Gibson had arrived in Bulgaria. Looked like they green-screened them in separately.

Dec 21, 2013

You can appreciate Rousey's new pictures in Maxim this month plus a little bit of The Expendables 3 talk, nothing to get overly excited about other than her pictures...

Maxim: What was it like boxing with former WBC champ Victor Ortiz on the set of The Expendables 3?

Rousey: We did a lot of clinching stuff together. We found some random boxing
club in the middle of Bulgaria - we would move around the ring and I’d
have to try and clinch him, and he’d have to try and get away from me,
which is good for him. He’s got great footwork from pure boxing. He
would try to run away and I’d try to cut him off. One day, he was like,
“Try to throw me once. I just want to know”’ So then he found out what
it’s like!

Dec 20, 2013

IGN spoke to Seagal who said that, "some unpleasant politics" with "certain folks, not the
actors" got in the way of his participation with the EX franchise, which
may be in reference to his reportedly less-than-solid relationship with
Expendables producer Avi Lerner whom the actor had worked with on
several direct-to-video projects previously. In any event, there's still
a chance that we may see the '90s icon in an Expendables film after
all.

Seagal elaborated on his potential involvement, saying, "Hopefully
we've gone beyond that [the previous roadblocks]. Sly just called me the
other day and said that they were still [interested]. And I said, 'Hey
buddy, you're my friend, let me know.' He said he was going to send me a
script."

The actor hasn't seen a script just yet, and it's not entirely clear
if the conversation was a very preliminary check-in for a possible
fourth film, which seems logical as they wrapped production on the third
in October. However, there’s a chance that Seagal could appear in a
small cameo role in The Expendables 3 if they add him in during standard pick-ups/reshoots.

The actor did turn down a cameo in the first film, though, so another
possibility is that he'd show up an after-credits sequence in The Expendables 3,
leading into a more central/villainous role in the next installment.
Either way, he's always seemed like a no-brainer for the guns and brawn
world of The Expendables.

Dec 13, 2013

Exciting times for action fans!!! With THE EXPENDABLES 3 finished filming and now being edited by Sly, Patrick Hughes and the editors of the film, the teaser trailer is upon us and ready to be shown to the world. 'JOX' over at StalloneZone informed us over a month ago that a 'stand-alone' teaser was shot and in the can...so the trailer is ready!. When it will premiere is the next question.

My guess is that the EX3 teaser will premiere with Stallone's very own GRUDGE MATCH which opens Christmas Day:

If the teaser does not premiere with Grudge Match in December then my second guess is that it will premiere with the new HERCULES film in January. Afterall, that film is being released by Lionsgate/Summit and it does star one of the expendables himself, Kellan Lutz:

Dec 12, 2013

Lutz was promoting Hercules this week and revealed a bit about Expendables 3.

“You’re working with all these guys, all these iconic legends and I’m taller than most of them,” Lutz said. “So I’m trying to slouch in pictures, trying to honor them and not stand out. Even Sly’s like [in Stallone voice], ‘Stop working out.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, sir!’ I’m skinny now because of Expendables. I didn’t want anyone to get mad at me.”

On how he got a role in EX3 he said:

“His [Stallone] girls saw Twilight, so they already love me, and a good friend of mine Liam Hemsworth was in the second one. I think his girls are Sly’s casting directors, but also Sly watched Arena. He told me he really loved what I did in Arena and I’m very proud of that movie as well.”

On his fellow Expendables he further added that “all the guys are super cool and just legendary to work with. There were no Type A personalities on board. Everyone was just there to make a great movie.”

Dec 9, 2013

Nothing really new lately on the EX3 news front. We are all awaiting the EX3 teaser trailer. The teaser for EX2 was released Dec 14, 2012, so it may be soon. 2 pics popped up that maybe not everyone has seen yet of Arnold and Sly on set.

Dec 4, 2013

There is no way FAST 7 makes its July 2014 release date now. More important things are being focused on in the aftermath of Walker's death. The 7th film in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise has been shut down for the time being. Read details here!

Now, EX3 is set to debut in August where the first two films in the action franchise dominated by opening at #1 and holding that spot for two weekends in a row. But...would it be smart for Lionsgate to move the film up into the FAST 7 slot so that hungry summer moviegoers can feast on what is to be THE MOTHER OF ALL ACTION MOVIES! Lionsgate should at least be considering it.

With the EX3 teaser trailer around the corner, here is a video Dolph put on his FaceBook to hold us over...enjoy!